HiddenClan Writing Challenges
by Warriorcat890
Summary: Greetings! Here is where I will post my writing challenges I complete for my Clan, HiddenClan. Each are unique short stories that I wrote in response to a prompt. I hope you enjoy! Rated T for any possible violence people might deem to extreme or gorey.
1. Clan Capture

_Hidden Clan Writing Challenge: Clan Capture_

This is my first challenge as an apprentice of HiddenClan. No one has to read it unless you are apart of the Clan and feel the need to. :) I don't mind; it gives me extra practice. I like receiving unusual prompts or things that I would never thing to write about.

This is the first challenge out of five I believe, and to make it easy for everyone concerned, I will make one giant story and post all the short stories in it as chapters.

Unfortunately, I am afraid I did not reach a requirement: I went over 1000 words. I apologize sincerely, but I just could not convey what I wanted to say in the story in that amount. I only went over a small bit and hope I don't get points deducted for it. Thank you.

I do not own Warriors.

* * *

_Where am I?_

_Am I dead?  
_

Frogpaw blinked open his eyes only to be met by more darkness. For a moment, he was bewildered as to why he greeted with more blackness. _Am I blind? How long have I been out? How did I get here?_ Similar questions rushed around his brain as he struggled to make sense of what was going on. The last thing he remembered was hunting by the stream in RiverClan territory. He remembered his mentor scolding him for ordering his littermates around, and sent him out on a solo hunting expedition for the rest of the day, banning him from battle training. He could remember feeling so angry, and then terrible pain… and then… he couldn't remember anything after that.

_What happened to me?_

"The prisoner's awake," a voice meowed from the shadows, causing Frogpaw to nearly jump out of his pelt. "Would you like to see him, my lord?"

"Who's there?" Frogpaw called cautiously. He unsheathed his claws just in case he would need them. _I don't know how I'll fight them!_ he thought with despair. _There must be more than the two of me, and they sound like full-grown cats. They'll shred me!_

"Shut up, kit!" a new voice snarled from the darkness.

This made anger flare through the gray apprentice's body. "I am not a kit!" he growled. "I am a RiverClan apprentice, and I _demand_ that you let me go! If you don't my Clan will come looking for you, and they will destroy you all!"

The cats ignored him. "Let me see him," another new voice spoke from the darkness. This voice was deeper than the others and sounded as if it belonged to a fearsome senior warrior. Slowly, the broad shoulders of a cat loomed out of the darkness. The shoulders were soon followed by the shape of a head, and then long, strong forelegs. Frogpaw could soon make out the emerald green eyes of a tortoiseshell tomcat as he made his way forward.

"Frogpaw of RiverClan," the tom greeted him as if they had known each other for years, only this was not a very warm reception. "It's so nice to finally meet you."

"How do you know my name?!" Frogpaw snarled, his hackles rising. Everything about this tom screamed danger and deception. _Why am I here?! What does he want from me?!_

"I know your mother, Duckfeather. We were close once upon a time… now we've grown apart… In fact, that is why you are here. I'm using you as a form of ransom to get her back," the tom explained.

Frogpaw could not believe his ears. "You're what?!" _So… I'm just a bargaining chip in a failed romance?_

"You don't understand, Frogpaw. Your mother and I were more than friends—we were mates… I wanted her to come with me and live in the wild as a 'rogue' or whatever you foolish Clan cats call us, but she refused. She stayed in the Clans and I didn't return for her at first. After a while, I missed her presence and returned to look for her, but she had taken a new mate, but she had still bore and birthed my kittens—you and your sisters."

Frogpaw stood there and suddenly felt as if his limbs had turned to jelly. _Did he just say what I think he said?_ "You're… my father? No… My mother never mated with any flea-ridden, mangy rogue!"

The tom growled low in his throat and stepped closer. Frogpaw noticed that his pelt was a mixture of oranges, reds, browns, whites, and blacks. The array of colors that made up his pelt wasn't exactly a very artistic or majestic look to it, but it wasn't ugly either. "Do you think that I would lie about this?" he snarled. "Do you think that you would even _be_ here if it were a lie?"

The apprentice instinctively recoiled from the larger cat. After a moment of cowering, however, he shook his head to clear it of fear. "I don't believe you're my father. I don't!"

"Well I am, kitten!" he muttered. "Get used to the idea, because I don't intend on going away! With you here at my mercy, Duckfeather won't be able to stay away! She'll come to protect you."

Frogpaw stood there, unsure what to say. How on Earth do you respond to your long-lost father telling you that he's going to use you as ransom to get your mother back? His father turned away from him, and with an unspoken command, his cronies came forward and ushered Frogpaw into a narrow tunnel. His sight failed him in this new, advanced darkness, but his hearing and sense of smell remained stronger than ever. According to his nose, his father padded along a few tail-lengths in front of him, and Frogpaw paid close attention to his movements, and the directions he took.

After many twists and turns in the labyrinth of tunnels, Frogpaw could see the faint light of day at the end of the passage. His ears immediately perked up, and his eyes began adjusting to the light. For a few moments, he walked blindly, but once his sight returned, he saw his father speaking to a large brown tabby tom.

"Did you go to the Clan?" his father demanded in a soft voice.

"Yes, my lord! I believe that there are warriors on their way here now," the tom replied before shooting a dubious glance at Frogpaw.

"Shade!" a familiar voice yowled. A few moments later, Duckfeather burst out of the ferns. When she saw her son, she let out a hiss of rage. "Are you serious?! Have you lost your _mind_?! Using our _son_ as a bargaining chip?! How _dare_ you, you worthless fox-heart!"

"Duckfeather," Shade purred as if she had never spoken. "Nice to see you again."

"Nice?!" Frogpaw's mother caterwauled. "If this is your definition of 'nice' you're insane!"

"Enough niceties!" Shade hissed. "If you return to me, I will let your son go."

"I will never come back to you, Shade!" Duckfeather spat. "I have a new mate! Now let my son go!"

"I'm afraid that wasn't a part of the bargain…"

Just as the words passed Shade's lips, Frogpaw felt a sudden pain in the back of his head. He fell to the ground, and everything faded away to black. The last thing he felt was warm liquid oozing from a wound somewhere on the back of his neck.

* * *

A/N: I won't give the full regular speech I do at the end of a chapter. If you aren't in the Clan and clicked on this out of pure curiosity, I would greatly appreciate it if you clicked on my username and checked out my other fics. :)


	2. It Happened

_HiddenClan Writing Challenge: It Happened..._

This challenge was basically about a natural disaster or a "plague" of some sort wreaking havoc upon the unfortunate Clan you write a perspective from.

I got Brackenfur... and a plague of octopi.

Not an easy prompt.

I did the best I could with what I was given.

I don't own Warriors.

* * *

_Many cats were sharing tongues, enjoying the sun. I walked over to my friend, and as if that was the signal, it happened…_

First, I should tell you about us—my name is Brackenfur, and I am a warrior of SeaClan. As if the name wasn't explanatory enough, my Clan lives by the sea; we thrive from the bounty it gives us. Unlike most cats, we enjoy the water and love the feeling of it flowing through our fur as we swim or hunt fish in the shallows. Our land-loving counterparts called us insane living by the sea and relying on its resources for our very lives… and who knows—maybe they were right.

Don't worry about my explanations of our way of life: I'll tell you absolutely everything I can remember, and won't leave anything out. I won't summarize. Life is a story; not a summary.

The day it happened, was the final day of our life by the sea. Previously, there had been somewhat of a drought in our sea. The small fish we hunted in the shallows during the high tide, and the crustaceans and unfortunate fish and sea creatures that were left in the rocky pools during the low tide had disappeared. We were running low on food and many warriors had to go hungry. That day, most of the warriors were out hunting—it was during the low tide. Few cats were in camp except for those who had just returned from the sunhigh patrol.

My friend, Islandstorm lay near one of the large black rocks that dotted the shore. She rasped her tongue over the fur on her hind leg almost in rhythm with the waves lapping at the shore. I padded over to her just as she let her leg down and looked up at me with her unsettling green eyes. Islandstorm was a pretty she-cat, but her eyes seemed to look right through you and see into your soul. "Greetings, Brackenfur," she meowed kindly.

I sat down near her and stretched out my paws. I opened my jaws in a mighty yawn and was going to go on talking about the sunhigh patrol. Any normal day I would have—we would have had our trivial little drabble about the day's patrols and the shortage of prey and how handsome that new warrior named Wavestorm was. However, today was different. A foreboding feeling crept into me and bedded down in the pit of my stomach. Something was wrong, but I didn't know what.

"Brackenfur," Islandstorm meowed, looking at me curiously. "Is something wrong? You zoned out."

I shook my head, hoping to clear away and errant thoughts that buzzed around in my brain. "Oh no… I'm fine… I just… I got a bad feeling."

"Bad as in… sick bad? Do you need to go see Stonemask?"

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "I just…"

Before I could continue, a caterwaul from the camp entrance caught us both off guard. We nearly jumped out of our skin as one of the warriors, Foamfur, burst into the camp. "Our warriors have been attacked!"'

Just as the words passed the white cat's lips, our leader, Stripestar, our Clan leader slipped out of his rocky den and came bounding across the camp. "What happened?" he demanded upon reaching the warrior.

"Octopus!" the cat gasped. "We were hunting in deeper water because there were no fish in the tide pools and a whole hoard of them came out the deep and grabbed cats with their suckers and pulled them down into the depths! They even came out of the water snapping at us with their beaks! My patrol is still back there; they sent me back to camp to get help because I was the fastest. They need help!"

Stripestar wasted no time in calling warriors together for action. "Brackenfur, Islandstorm, Tideclaw, Fruitwhisker, Ternfeather, Wavestorm, Sunleaf, Stormwhisker, and Branchfoot!" he summoned us all to him. Islandstorm and I wasted no time in rushing to his side. "I want my personal patrol composed of Brackenfur, Tideclaw, Wavestorm, Sunleaf and Branchfoot to to approach directly. Islandstorm, I want you to lead a smaller patrol of Fruitwhisker, Ternfeather, and Stormwhisker around the other side and attack from that angle. Even though we are on the offensive, once we get there, our main goal is to get the wounded out of there. They need to get away from the battle and get attention from Stonemask."

Just then, the gray medicine cat trotted over. He dropped a clumps herbs that he had been carrying in his jaws and locked eyes with Stripestar. "Don't fear, Stripestar. I'll be accompanying you."

Stripestar dipped his head at the gray medicine cat before raising his tail for us to follow as he bounded out of camp. Islandstorm and I followed along closely. I unsheathed my claws and let a small growl rise in my throat. Fear was present, but determination to defend and avenge my kin overpowered it. I was a warrior. I made an oath. And I would protect my Clan.

We reached the tide pools quickly, and the sight I saw would be forever imbedded in my mind that day forward. Some of my Clan-mates lay dead, chucks of their throats torn out by some sharp object I couldn't identify. Then, I saw the creatures. Octopi were all around us with their strange pelts blending into the rocks except for one, whose color was that of a bright red. It let out a strange screech and the other octopi nearly jumped out of the water at us. They… they couldn't come up on the land… could they?

"SeaClan, attack!" Stripestar caterwauled above the horrifying, alien shrieks of the creatures. "Show no mercy!"

Those words rarely passed my leader's lips, and suddenly I knew that this wasn't a normal battle—this was a life or death situation. The warriors surged forward, charging into the water. Wavestorm was one of the first in the water, and the moment his forepaws slashed beneath the surface of the waves, one of the octopus's long, flexible legs tightened around his right foreleg and swung him up into the air. Wavestorm let out a startled yowl as he was flung into a nearby rock. The gray tom collapsed, limp.

I longed to rush to my Clan-mate's defense, but Stonemask was paw-steps ahead of me. He began to look the tom over, and I knew that I was needed elsewhere. Fear once again took a hold of me as I stared at the battle scene. Islandstorm had leapt on the back of one of the octopi and was biting at its head fiercely while Tideclaw and Branchfoot clawed at the sides of it. Stripestar and Fruitwisker were making advances toward the red octopus, and I rushed to their aid.

Stripestar led us, sticking to the small rocky paths through the pools. He was speaking to Fruitwhisker by the time I reached them, and I only got a small bit of the conversation. "—came up from deeper waters and got trapped during the low-tide. I think we've found the culprits of our food shortage, though."

The red octopus's petrifying red eyes seemed to stare right through us. It let out a kraken-worthy shriek and moved to the furthest edge of the pool possible. He was in the deepest and most dangerous tide pool that the mentors always warn their apprentices of. "Show no fear," Stripestar called over his shoulder, not even looking at us. I'm glad of that; I was visibly trembling.

Stripestar let out a yowl and launched himself of the rocks and landed right on the octopus's face. Fruitwhisker followed with another battle cry and rammed into it's side, knocking it somewhat off balance. I did not want to follow them. I did not want to go on this suicide mission, but I had to. "StarClan protect me," I muttered before rushing forward to the edge of the rocky pool. The octopus was so occupied with Stripestar and Fruitwhisker, that its crimson eye that was minnow-lengths away didn't even see me. This was my chance.

I lashed out with my claws, and felt them cut easily thought the tender flesh of the eye. It let out a roar of pain and shook violently, sending Stripestar flying. He landed with a grunt a few tail-lengths away. "Good job," he praised weakly before shoving himself to his paws. My leader seemed weak, his normally smooth brown tabby fur ruffled and soaked. Blood stained his claws and his jaws, but he limped from his fall, seeming to have a dislocated shoulder.

"We might—be able—to bring it down," I huffed. "Or—at least—blind it."

Stripestar nodded, also breathing heavily. "Let's try to kill it…" he breathed. "If it's gone… we might be able to drive the others out."

Without warning, Stripestar rushed forward again. "I will not let you destroy my Clan!" he yowled, leaping straight for its face. The octopus saw his attack coming from its one good eye and leapt back, exposing its razor-sharp beak.

"STRIPESTAR!" I caterwauled, but it was too late. The creature's beak seized his throat. I watched with pure horror as his jugular was torn out and blood spewed from the gaping hole in his throat. The dead body of my leader fell into the water and floated ominously there, turning the water around it red.

Fear, dread, anger, rage—all those emotions buzzed around within me like an angry bee, banging on the sides of my body. "Don't be dead," I breathed. "Please don't be dead… Please." My silent plea was unanswered and the octopus sent one massive tentacle flying down and crushed Stripestar's body against the bottom of the pool.

I couldn't take it anymore. My limbs turned to jelly, and my vision faded to black. I collapsed on the rocks, the image of my Clan leader's death still replaying itself in my head.

* * *

A/N: How was it?


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